Expert Photoshopper Transforms Marvel Superheroes Into Females

There seems to be a constant debate about the role of gender in movies recently. Should there be more female superheroes? Should gay characters only be played by gay actors? If that’s the case, should the same be true of transsexual characters as well? Nobody seems to know for sure. That’s not to say that people haven’t been playing around with the idea for a long time, though. The internet is a wonderfully creative place, and there are apps which can gender-swap you at the touch of a button. People have been putting those apps to good use on celebrities! Whether it’s the superheroes themselves re-imagined as the opposite sex, or just the actors who play them, we’ve collected a set of eye-opening transformations for you. We think some of these characters look a lot better as women than they do as men – and they look pretty good as men.

1. Tom Hiddleston (AKA Loki)

Tom Hiddleston has plenty of admirers. He’s not as ‘conventionally’ good looking as some of the other names you’ll see appear on this list, but he has striking features that make him easy to identify in whatever movie he appears in. Many film viewers will know him best as Loki from ‘Thor’ and ‘The Avengers,’ but he’s also well known for his theater work. One of his early stage roles in ‘Cymbeline’ won him the Laurence Olivier Award for ‘Best Newcomer’ in 2008. Transformed into a woman, he becomes beautiful to look at. His eyes – probably his best feature – remained unchanged, but the enhancements to his cheekbones really stand out, as do the softer lips. Also, is it us, or does he look a little like he might belong to the same family as the Olsen twins?

2. Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther)

Landing the title role in ‘Black Panther’ must have been something of a relief for Chadwick Boseman, who probably feared he’d spend his whole career appearing in biographies up until that point. Boseman has played Jackie Robinson, James Brown and Thurgood Marshall on the big screen, and earned plenty of plaudits by doing so. He’s a fine character actor, capable of completely disappearing into any role he’s asked to play. His crossover from ‘Black Panther’ into the ‘Avengers’ series has only seen his star rise even higher.It was a particularly joyous image of Boseman that was selected to undergo the transformation process, and that joy is reflected in his female opposite. We’re not sure what she did to deserve noticeably worse teeth than Boseman has though. Aside from the need for a little dental work, she looks every bit as vivacious and engaging as he does.

3. Ryan Reynolds (AKA Deadpool)

Ryan Reynolds is almost universally known as one of the world’s best-looking men. He’s mistaken for his near-namesake Ryan Gosling surprisingly often, which is odd because they don’t look particularly alike when they stand side by side. We’re sure neither of them minds though; they’re both excellent actors and handsome gentlemen. Marvel Universe enthusiasts will all know and love Reynolds for his appearances in the ‘Deadpool’ movies, where his sardonic wit shines through the strongest.He was always likely to look fantastic as a woman, and he does. The process has narrowed his face a little too much for our liking, but we can’t help but think the image reminds us of someone. If you’ve never checked out Reynolds’ real-life wife Blake Lively before, search for her and come back to this image. It’s uncanny. Don’t worry; it’s spooked us too.

4. Paul Bettany (AKA Vision)

There are many reasons that Paul Bettany sits high on the lists of ‘bad guy actors’ when movies are being cast. He has a way of appearing to be sinister without really trying. That isn’t a great skill in everyday life, but it’s perfect when you’re an actor. It means you’re never likely to be short of work! He also has a slightly androgynous quality, which made him the ideal person to play the character of Vision in the ‘Avengers’ movies.He looks no less terrifying as a woman than he does as a man, but the gender swap reveals how quintessentially British his looks are. There’s such a thing as an ‘English rose,’ and the pale-skinned and blue-eyed female Bettany fits the bill perfectly. We’re getting a sense of a young Joanna Lumley from looking at that picture, and a hint of Tilda Swinton too. We think the most accurate one-word description would be ‘willowy.’

5. Chris Hemsworth (AKA Thor)

The wielder of the most famous hammer in cinema, everybody knows Chris Hemsworth as ‘Thor.’ He’s an old-school macho man, muscle-bound and brimming with masculinity – and, of course, his Hollywood good looks. He’s come a long way in the acting world from his humble beginnings back home in Australia, where he started out in the soap opera ‘Home and Away.’ As well as his superhero success, you’ll also have seen him in ‘Red Dawn,’ ‘Rush,’ and ‘The Cabin in the Woods.’Just as he looks like a throwback to the golden age of Hollywood as a man, the same is true of his appearance a woman. There’s a classic, elegant and stylish element to his female appearance, accentuated by the golden hair. We’re getting a tiny hint of a young Alicia Silverstone in this image, with a pinch of a blonde Kristen Stewart. The female Hemsworth would be every bit the pin-up poster that the male one is.

6. Mark Ruffalo (AKA the Hulk)

Mark Ruffalo is a wonderfully versatile actor. He’s made a lot of money portraying the Hulk in the Marvel movies – and enjoyed a lot more success than his predecessors Eric Bana and Edward Norton in the role – but he can play twitchy ad delicate as well as he can play strong and aggressive. If you want evidence of that, all you need to do is look up his riveting work in ‘Spotlight’; a movie that will haunt you long after the credits have rolled. We think Ruffalo doesn’t get enough credit for his range as an actor.He’s getting hard done by with this gender swap process, too! The process is only supposed to turn men into women and vice versa, but the female Ruffalo looks to have shed somewhere between ten and twenty years in the process! Ruffalo is in his early 50s, but his female counterpart could easily pass for a 25-year-old.

7. Chris Evans (Captain America)

Chris Evans was an against-the-grain choice when he was cast to play Captain America. The part seemed to call for a bulky, muscular performer in the Stallone or Schwarzenegger mold, and it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see the part go to Dwayne Johnson, but instead, it fell on the slighter shoulders of Evans. If there were people who raised their eyebrows at the casting, they were soon silenced by his performances. He brought sensitivity to the character, and it was a shame for Marvel when he recently informed them that he didn’t want to continue in the role.Despite the beard, there’s fresh-faced innocence and youthfulness about Evans’ face, and that’s only more apparent when we re-imagine him as female. The brightness in his eyes has only found more glow in the transformation, and his skin is still flawless. We’re not convinced the female Evans would go for a career in the movies though; she looks more like a pop singer to us.

8. Chris Pratt (AKA Peter Quill)

If you’re considering getting in shape and you need inspiration, look no further than Chris Pratt. He was always an excellent actor, but until a few years ago he was carrying a little extra weight which seemed to preclude him from ‘leading man’ role. He totally transformed his look, got in the shape of his life and landed himself the main role in ‘Jurassic World.’ He hasn’t really looked back since, going from strength to strength, and appearing in the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ films as Peter Quill.Pratt is the first of the stars we’ve encountered so far in the list who definitely makes for a better-looking man than a woman. There’s nothing especially wrong with how he looks as a woman, but he doesn’t have the same ‘it’ factor. Even technology as advanced as this gender-swapping tool can’t tone down that distinctive jawline, and it’s a better feature for the male Pratt than his counterpart.

9. Sebastian Stan (AKA Bucky Barnes)

Sebastian Stan has climbed the ladder to showbiz success one rung at a time. Some performers are lucky enough to go straight into movies and stay there for their whole career; Stan had to slog his way through TV world first. He didn’t have a bad time while he was there though, appearing in ‘Once Upon A Time,’ ‘Gossip Girl’ and ‘Political Animals’ before superhero movies came calling. You’ll probably have seen him portraying Bucky Barnes. Or should that be ‘Winter Soldier?’If we’re willing to overlook the fact that something has gone slightly wrong with the right eye during the swapping process, Stan makes for an elfin and very attractive woman. While it’s not a dead ringer, we’re picking up more than a passing resemblance to Mila Kunis in the end product. Let’s hope nobody takes to shouting, ‘Shut up, Meg!’ at Stan in the street.

10. Paul Rudd (AKA Ant Man)

There is seemingly no end to Paul Rudd’s talents. The experienced and gifted actor has credits as a performer, a writer, a director, and comedian. In his younger years, he was a classic teen heart-throb in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ before demonstrating his comedy skills in the ‘Anchorman’ movies. The way he can make a character as innately absurd as ‘Ant Man’ relatable and sympathetic is a testimony to his skills. Actors don’t come much better than Rudd.Rudd is another man who has textbook masculine features, and although the swapping process has managed to make him appear as a convincing woman, it’s made him less attractive in a process. You know that Rudd is a star just by looking at him; nothing about the way he looks as a woman suggests celebrity status. He was definitely born into the right body.

11. Dave Bautista (AKA Drax)

‘Wrester turned actor’ used to be the sort of CV which would get you laughed out of Hollywood. Despite all his mainstream fame, Hulk Hogan never managed to crossover into a major movie star. Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson changed all that by becoming the biggest box office draw in the world, and now John Cena and Dave Bautista are following hot on his heels. Whenever you need a man-mountain who looks like he could tear you limb from limb in your movie, you call on the services of Bautista.Given how enormous Bautista is, standing well over six feet and with muscles on muscles, the idea of turning him into a woman seems faintly ridiculous, but the results are astonishing. The app has picked up on Bautista’s Filipino heritage and accentuated it, making the female version of him quite the exotic beauty.

12. Robert Downey Jr (AKA Tony Stark)

Once the wild-child of Hollywood, Robert Downey Jr has settled down as the years have drawn on, becoming one of Hollywood’s most reliable box office draws. He openly spoke of wanting to find a franchise to star in after spending most of his career making one-shot films, and then found two. With the success of ‘Iron Man’ and the ‘Sherlock’ films, Downey is now the third-highest grossing domestic US box office star in history. Now that’s how you make a comeback.The gender-swap technology must have taken a dislike to Downey, because it hasn’t given him the age reduction we’ve seen in a few other cases so far. There’s nothing wrong with that – Downey makes for a sophisticated looking lady; the ideal choice for a newscaster, or perhaps a politician. The transformation isn’t perfect though, and the eyes become scarier the longer you stare into them.

13. Sir Ian McKellan (AKA Magneto)

‘YOU SHALL NOT PASS!’. If Sir Ian McKellan had a dollar for every time someone shouted that at him, he’d have made millions from it by now. He doesn’t have to worry about that too much, though, as his long and stellar career on our screens has made him a fortune already. The ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘X-Men’ star is acting royalty, indisputably one of the greatest of his whole generation. On top of that, he comes across as one of the nicest people you could hope to meet away from the camera.We’re not sure if it’s a case of McKellan having very strong features to begin with or whether he may have a slightly feminine facial structure, but not a lot has changed here from one picture to the other apart from the hair and makeup. The female McKellan looks like a charming elder lady, radiating kindness and wisdom just as he does as a man.

14. Josh Brolin (AKA Thanos)

Feast your eyes on one of the biggest bad guys in movie history – or is he? Josh Brolin is best known as Thanos – he who wields the infinity gauntlet in the ‘Avengers’ series of movies – but is his character evil or just misunderstood? There’s constant debate on internet forums about that topic, and that debate will probably continue long after the final movie has hit our screens later this year. With his hooded, brooding eyes and his square jaw, Brolin has the look of a man you wouldn’t want to mess with.Perhaps because those features are all so strong, our female Brolin sadly doesn’t look like the belle of the ball. If we were being slightly discourteous, we’d suggest that perhaps she looked a bit like Hilary Swank on a very, very bad day for Swank. This is the first image so far where we think we’ve just created an image of our male actor in drag!

15. Michael B. Jordan (AKA Erik Killmonger)

It would be no exaggeration to say that Michael B. Jordan’s rise to superstardom has been stratospheric. He’s been appearing in television and movies since the late 1990s, but his connection with director Ryan Coogler has done wonders for his more recent career. Coogler has cast him in his three best-known roles; Oscar Grant in ‘Fruitvale Station,’ Adonis Creed in ‘Creed’ and, of course, Erik Killmonger in ‘Black Panther.’ Despite all his fame and all his riches, Jordan still lives with his parents, albeit in a luxury home that he bought for them.Jordan’s slightly rounded features make it easy to picture him as a woman, and that comes across in the image we see here. All it’s taken is a softening of the features and a little makeup, and the female Jordan looks like a completely different person. We have no idea what prompted the change in eye color, though.

16. Bradley Cooper (AKA Rocket Raccoon)

We’re not sure when Bradley Cooper was last out of the newspapers, but it feels like years ago. His movie ‘A Star Is Born’ was the talk of Hollywood in 2018, and it’s just one of multiple box office sensations that he’s played a part in down the years. His voice-acting part as Rocket Raccoon is small-fry in comparison to his most significant work, but it still qualifies him as a superhero in our eyes. He’s also made us laugh to the point of crying in the ‘Hangover’ movies.If we had to guess how Cooper felt about being turned into a woman for this picture, we’d guess ‘surprised’ based on the female Cooper’s facial expression! He already looked fairly shocked in the original picture though, so we’ll let her off. This gender-swap image pairing proves beyond doubt that good looks are good looks, regardless of sex.

17. Jeremy Renner (AKA Hawkeye)

Jeremy Renner first came to prominence with his Oscar-nominated performance in ‘The Hurt Locker,’ although he’d already been active for well over a decade before that movie was made. It turned out to be the platform for greater things for the popular actor, who went on to secure the role of ‘Hawkeye’ in the ‘Avengers’ movies, and also put in an appearance in the ‘Mission: Impossible’ franchise as well. These days, Renner is all about blockbusters!Renner’s genetic background is complex and diverse; he can trace ancestors from England, Ireland, Germany, Sweden, and Panama. The software used to create the gender swap must have picked up on that, because Renner’s face has been transformed drastically, with an almost-Oriental appearance. She’s severe and imposing with eyes that burn a hole through you, so we think we’re happier looking at him as he is.

18. Tom Holland (AKA Spider Man)

Casting a new Spider Man is always a difficult process for a director. The character is supposed to be much younger than most conventional superheroes, and also has to be wiry and nimble. Tom Holland seemed to appear from nowhere at the perfect time for the ‘Avengers’ series; he’ll still only be 22 even when the final film has been released. He’ll continue on in the role though, having already wrapped filming on ‘Spider Man: Far from Home.’ Perhaps it’s a consequence of Holland being so young, but almost nothing has changed about his appearance when he’s been turned from male to female. Despite that, it’s easy to identify one of the pictures as a man, and the other as a woman. We can’t quite put our finger on what the telltale sign is, but it’s definitely there. We can say with certainty that Holland would have no difficulty passing himself off as a woman if a role ever called for it!

19. Hugh Jackman (AKA Wolverine)

There’s no mistaking Australian actor Hugh Jackman when you see him. He’s had a long and varied career, with highlights like ‘Swordfish’ in which he appeared opposite Halle Berry, but he’ll always be remembered for being Wolverine in the ‘X-Men’ film series and its seemingly endless number of spin offs. Jackman has said in the past that he’s done with the role, but so far Marvel has always found ways to tempt him back for one more performance.Shorn of the beard and the more rugged elements of his appearance as a woman, he’s quite the vision. The clean-shaven appearance reveals that he had fairly feminine features to begin with, but there’s something about the female Jackman that just screams ‘classy’ to us. We bet she’d make a fine character performer, just as he does. Losing the lines around his eyes has made him look ten years younger, too.

20. Vin Diesel (AKA Groot)

Whether you know him from ‘The Chronicles of Riddick,’ the ‘XXX’ series or the ‘Fast and Furious’ series, almost everyone in the cinema-going public has seen at least one Vin Diesel picture. He’s one of Hollywood’s greatest modern hard men, and his image is only partially ruined when you find out that his real name is the much-less-cool Mark Sinclair. Superhero movie fans will know him as Groot from both the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and ‘Avengers’ family of films.Vin Diesel would probably be the type of guy who wouldn’t look kindly upon being turned into a woman, so we won’t tell anybody about this gender swap, but we think Miss Diesel looks pretty good. She still has that ‘don’t mess with me’ glare, but she’s a very pretty woman. We wonder if she would speak with his voice?

21. Benedict Cumberbatch (AKA Doctor Strange)

Starting with the man with the greatest name in the world, we’re moving on to a new phase in our list now – famous faces who’ve actually played the opposite gender on screen. Benedict Cumberbatch has been hugely successful on both television and the silver screen. He’s given us an era-defining interpretation of Sherlock Holmes, a convincing alternative take of Khan in ‘Star Trek,’ and of course his superhero movie work as ‘Doctor Strange.’ Seemingly a man who likes to take on challenges, he’s even played controversial Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in a biopic.We suspect he may have regretted his choice to gender-swap in front of the camera, though. Perhaps the producers and directors promised him that there would be a more convincing use of camera trickery to make him appear female, but this is very clearly just Cumberbatch in a long wig. It’s not convincing it’s not feminine, and no effort has been made to soften his very famously sharp features.